Electrical contact.



Hi1". STRATTON. ELECTRICAL CONTACT. APPLICATION FILED AUG.19, 1912.

1,045,212. Patented Nov. 26, 1912.

WITNESSES Qkd dm ATTORNEY.

sTA'rEs r irETNroFFioE.

ELECTRICAL conracir.

Be it known that I, HARRY- F. SrRA'rroN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Electrical Contacts, of

which the following is-a specification.

My invention relates to-electrical contacts In particular it relates tocontacts used in drum type controllers in which a relatively stationarycontact is arranged to be engaged by a movable contactrevolved under itin any of the well known ways.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a contact universallymovable so as to enable its full surface contact to engage a cooperatingcont-act which may be, of irregular shape. L

Another ob'ect is to preserve the full surface contact etween thecooperating contacts as either or both pf them weardownJ especially ifone portion of c then contact wears faster than another.

Other advanta will be obvious aspointed out in t e-i followingdescription "and claims.

T o more fully explain my invention I will refer to the accompanyingdrawings, of

, which-- Figures 1 and 2 are'elevations and part sections of thedev1ce, and F g. 3 is an end view of the contact tip,2 .'howmg the adapta hility of the contact -gar to a worn or 1rre ular shaped moval)l e;t:ontact.

cfcrring to the drawings, 1 1s a partial view of a revolving drum whichcarries a contact 2 adapted to engage the tip 3 of the relativelystationary contact finger 4. The finger 4 is supported by a holder 5mounted on a. support- G. The holder 5 is adapted to receive anelectrical conductor clamped by the not 7, and the current is carriedfrom the holder 5 to the finger 4 through a flexible connection 8. Thefinger 4 is held' in position against the projection 9 of the holder 5and the stud 10 by means of the compression spring 11, which is held inits compressed position by a cotter pin l2 passing through the ping13which is screwed into the holder 5, as shown in the drawing..-5? 1hestud 10, which supports the back -end'et" the finger 4, is formed into asphericalshape at 'recess to engage the. stud 10 at this point,

Specification of Letters-Patent. ,Pateflte'dNov. 26,1912. Applicationmed August 19, 1912. Serial No. 715,761."

so t-hat the finger may revolve about the po nt of-co'ntact with thestud 10 as a pivot whenthe contact 2 engages the finger tip 3.

As the contact 2 comes into engagement wlth the fingertip 3, the forwardend of the finger is raised off of the projection 9 about the stud 10 asa pivot, and if the contact 2,

or the lower surface of the tip 3, is not eX- actly true,'the finger 4.will also be tipped to' one side or the other about the sphericalsurface of the plug 10 so as to make full contact between the 133! 1':s'rm'r'ron, or CLEVELAND, 0x110, assmivon TO THE ELECTRIC CONTROLLER 4NDMANUFACTURING COMPANY, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, A coaronarxon DE 01110.

parts..2 and This arrangement is indicated in Fig. 3, which shows thecontact 2 to be worn away to a greater extent on the left-hand side thanon the right, but the finger 4, with its contact tip 3, adapts itself tothe irregular surface of the contact.- 2 by reason of the pressure ofthe spring 11 revolving the finger in'the position shown. Thisarrangement is of particular advantage when a new finger is placed in anold controller, for anyreason, in which the contacts on the "'drumh'aveworn to any considerable degree. When the new finger is put in place itwillreadily adapt itself. to the contact surface of .the contact 2regardless of its condition.

The pressure between the contacts can be regulated by adjus down. bearsagainst the hexagon sides of the stud 10 and holds it in whateverposition it is adjusted.

Aspring clip '14 is provided which ting the stud 10 up and I have shownthe finger 4 constructed of v a metal bar of channel section, as shownin Fig. 2, but it is obvious that the finger may assume other forms asdesired. I claim'- 1. In an electrical contact, a hdldcr, a contactmember supported thereby, a spherical hearing for the contact membercarried by said holder, and a spring for holding the contact member onthe said bearing.

.2. In a contact device, a holder, a contact member, means forsupporting said contact member near its ends, a spring for holdingthemember, against the supporting means,

and a spherical hearing between the contact member and oneof saidsupports.

3. In a contact device, a contact member, a coiiperatin'g'contact whichsupports one end of said member, a spring for holding said memberagainst said cotiperating contact, and a spherical support/for the otherend of said member.

4. In a, contact device, a. contact member, a coopetatingeontact whichsupports. ne end of .said member, a spring for holding saidmembcrngainst said cooperating con- 5 toot, a. spherical support-forth:other end member against ssaiilw coopezating contact, and a supportfortheother end of said memher which allows said member to tnrnnboutits-longitudinal axis.

.of August, 1912.

,f HARRY F. STRATTON. Witnesses:

Signed at Cleveland, Ohio, this 16th day 1.5

